I don't look at turbo/ergo time as replacing road & trail riding. Nothing replaces that, I look at the turbo/ergo time as pure focused training time. I could imagine if I went on a normal 25-30 mile at my usual ride intensities on a turbo I'd be bored out of my skull after 30 min or so. This is the mistake I think a lot of people make, they treat a turbo/ergo trainer as a replacement for road/trail riding & it isn't, it's a training tool. During the winter when it's cold & icy I'd not trade be outside in thermals doing my commuting base miles, but where I'd be struggling to pump out 200w on the road I could jump on my old, toy of a, turbo & completely overwhelm its resistance (around 215w max resistance, I said it was a toy
) to try & keep my power I developed over last summer.
So onto today with my ergo trainer - yes it's over 20C outside, yes it's a beautiful day but I did a 45min training session down the bottom of the garden. Nothing I could have done on the road or on a trail would have come close to that session! It was wonderful listening to the birds, the trickle of water into the pond, the soft sound of the wind through the long grasses & trees, even the sound of the traffic with some blues & jazz music from somewhere near by & the hum of the rear tyre. This all helps me to zen out & just focus on my training - no traffic, no pedestrians, no horses, no wildlife running across the road, just me v's the bike & ergo trainer.
